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HEADLINE: LEAKS OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION, CIA INFORMANTS HAVE A LONG HISTORY IN WASHINGTON

BYLINE: By Jim Geraghty States News Service

DATELINE: WASHINGTON

BODY:
Eight years ago, a public official leaked the identity of a Central Intelligence Agency informant to the press, getting the informant’s name on the front page of the New York Times.

That official – then-Rep. Robert G. Torricelli — was merely rebuked by a House of Representatives panel, far from the “frog-marching in handcuffs” that former ambassador Joe Wilson, the figure at the center of the current controversy, feels is the proper punishment for whoever disclosed his wife’s employment at the CIA.

The recent controversy surrounding allegations that a White House official revealed the identity of a CIA employee is only the latest flap in the nation’s capital about unauthorized leaks of classified information.

In 1995, a U.S. State Department employee told Torricelli that a paid CIA informant, Guatemalan Col. Julio Roberto Alpirez, was involved in the killing of the husband of an American citizen.

Torricelli, then a Democratic Congressman from New Jersey and a member of the House Intelligence Committee, complained the CIA was doing nothing to uncover the facts of the case for the widow, Jennifer Harbury.

Alpirez’ identity and ties to the CIA were classified. In March 1995, Torricelli listed the colonel’s name and his connection to the CIA in a letter to President Clinton and gave a copy of the letter to The New York Times.

The House of Representatives’ ethics committee ruled several months later that Torricelli acted “contrary” to a House rule when he disclosed the classified information. But the panel said it would not punish Torricelli because of “ambiguity” in the rule.

Eventually, the House passed a rule requiring any member or staffer trying to gain access to classified information to sign a secrecy oath. Under the new rules, revealing information the way Torricelli did is forbidden.

The role of the CIA and Alpirez in the deaths in Nicaragua remained disputed. The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence released a report concluding that “none of the allegations” originally raised by Torricelli were true, but Democrats on the panel said in a minority rebuttal that “this categorical assertion is not supported by the evidence.”

However, the Democrats did not dispute the part of the report criticizing Torricelli for revealing the information. The Intelligence Committee review stated that the CIA had provided “evidence that the disclosures concerning Guatemala have resulted in the loss of some contacts around the world, who feared their relationship with the United States would be disclosed as well.”

The State Department aide who gave the information to Torricelli, Richard Nuccio, was stripped of his security clearance by then-CIA Director John Deutch.

The intelligence report also offered a rebuke of Nuccio. The report noted that a separate investigation by the State Department Inspector General found that besides passing the information to Torricelli, Nuccio “may have also provided classified information to members of the press, and had prepared classified documents on his home computer that he then telecopied over unsecure telephone lines.”

Nuccio went on to work for Torricelli as a senior foreign policy advisor. He later worked for the United Nations, RAND Corp., and the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy at Salve Regina University

Ironically, the CIA director who disciplined Nuccio, John Deutch, was also disciplined for not protecting classified information.

George Tenet, Deutch’s successor as CIA director, announced in August 1999 that he had stripped Deutch of his security clearance because he kept classified documents on ordinary home computers that were not protected by locks, encryption or other security devices.

It was later revealed that Deutch kept a Pentagon security clearance until February 2000 that allowed him to work as a paid consultant on classified Defense Department contracts with Raytheon Corp., SAIC Corp. and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Perhaps one of the most damaging leaks came on August 21, 1998, when Martin Sieff of the Washington Times wrote a front-page profile of terrorist Osama bin Laden. Sieff wrote that the notorious terrorist “keeps in touch with the world via computers and satellite phones and has given occasional interviews to international news organizations, including Time magazine and CNN News.”

That article tipped bin Laden to the National Security Agency’s interceptions of his satellite phone conversations. He then switched to more sophisticated phone systems, according to intelligence officials.

“You open up the newspaper, see something like that and ask, ‘What the hell is going on? Who on earth put that out?’” said Daniel Benjamin, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and former director for transnational threats on the National Security Council.

In his 2002 book about the rise of al-Qaeda, “The Age of Sacred Terror,” Benjamin said that, “when bin Laden stopped using the phone and let his aides do the calling, the United States lost its best chance to find him.”

The security of classified information has been a paramount issue since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The day of the attacks, Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, told the Associated Press that intelligence agencies “have an intercept of some information that includes people associated with bin Laden who acknowledged a couple of targets were hit.”

He made similar comments to ABC News and said the information had come from officials at the CIA and FBI. That stirred a strong rebuke from White House officials.

“Well, that helps a lot! [Expletive]!” one administration official told the Chicago Tribune.

An October 22, 2001 article in The New Yorker magazine by Seymour Hersh began with a reader-grabbing revelation: “Since 1994 or earlier, the National Security Agency has been collecting electronic intercepts of conversations between members of the Saudi Arabian royal family, which is headed by King Fahd… The intercepts have demonstrated to analysts that by 1996 Saudi money was supporting Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda and other extremist groups in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Yemen, and Central Asia, and throughout the Persian Gulf region.” According to former intelligence officials, that leak was investigated within the NSA.

In November 2001, President Bush accused unnamed lawmakers of leaking secrets last week to the news media. He ordered that briefings involving sensitive information to be limited to only eight top members of Congress, before changing his mind the following day.

Bush’s was outraged by a Washington Post report on a classified briefing, in which intelligence officials were quoted as telling lawmakers there was a “100 percent likelihood of further terrorist strikes.” According to some senators, there was much more sensitive information leaked to the Post that the newspaper decided not to run.

Then, in summer 2002, the leaders of the Senate and House intelligence panels called in the FBI to investigate after Vice President Dick Cheney complained to them about another leak.

National Security Agency director, Lt. General Michael Hayden, had testified to a joint House-Senate panel about highly classified radio intercepts of two messages that hinted at impending action by al-Qaeda terrorists shortly before Sept. 11. The messages, originally in Arabic, were not translated until after the attacks occurred. One day after Hayden’s appearance before the joint panel, CNN aired a report on his testimony.

The FBI investigation did not result in any arrests.

Benjamin said that despite Torricelli, Hatch, and Bush’s public criticism of Congress, the White House and the agencies it oversees generate plenty leaks of their own.

“I think the executive branch has a lot more to answer for, by and large,” Benjamin said. “And it’s not just political appointees but some of the civil servants, people who actually work for the intelligence agencies. [Washington Times reporter] Bill Gertz blows more classified information in his reporting that he gets from sources in the intelligence community than most other reporters I can think of.”

The CIA has repeatedly stated that press leaks can have a serious impact on national security. On June 14 of last year, the agency circulated a memo to top government officials warning them against leaks that it says have “jeopardized” U.S. intelligence capabilities.

“Information obtained from captured detainees has revealed that al-Qaeda operatives are extremely security-conscious and have altered their practices in response to what they have learned from the press about our capabilities,” the memo stated. “A growing body of reporting indicates that al-Qaeda planners have learned much about our counter-terrorist intelligence capabilities from U.S. and foreign media.”

The memo also stated that every public disclosure of classified information erodes trust in U.S. intelligence and “reduce the willingness of potential allies, volunteers and sources in foreign countries to work with us out of fear of having their cooperation publicized in the press.”

The CIA can polygraph its employees in its leak investigations and has in the past, according to intelligence officials. On Wednesday, the White House White House spokesman Scott McClellan indicated executive staffers would submit to polygraph tests during the investigation if the Justice Department requested it.

SBD

Thanks for the recap this morning. You really do a great job and are always right on the mark !! The Democrats had their “Murtha Moment” and thank goodness the Republicans finally stepped up to the plate !!

I hate these politicians who want to run the war ….does the military try to pass laws ….NO !! The politicians need to keep their pants on and let the millitary finish the job. With the elections less than a month away I can’t believe these Democrats are having such a melt down ….maybe it shows how desperate they really are !!

Hoping for a peaceful Thanksgiving for our troops ….as many prayers go out for their safety !!

Thanks AJ !!

“I am very excited to and honored to represent the constituents of the Second Congressional District of Ohio. I am ready to go to Washington, DC and get to work,” Jean stated. http://www.jeanschmidt.com

Welcome Jean-What took you so long to speak up? The current leadership should pay attention and listen to the new Congresswoman…. She has a spine and backbone! Thank You Jean for supporting our troops and welcome to Washington.

You may find it “ridiculous” A. J., but do you find it SURPRISING? I do not.